Fiber rug



A. BROWN Nov. 22, 1960 FIBER RUG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 27, 1956FIG INVENTOR.

, BROWN ALAN a 74f: ATTORNEY Nov. 22, 1960 A. BROWN 2,961,011

FIBER RUG Filed June 27, 1956 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

ALAN BROWN & TTORNEY United States Patent FIBER RUG Alan Brown,Higgannm, Conn., assignor to Congoleurn- Nair-n Inc., Kearny, N.J., acorporation of New York Filed June 27, 1956, Ser. No. 594,133

3 Claims. (Cl. 139-420) This invention relates to woven fiber rugs andparticularly to such rugs having a scintillating appearance.

Fiber rugs are conventionally woven from paper threads of variouscolors. The paper threads are prepared by slitting rolls of paper intonarrow bands and then twisting two or more of the narrow bands togetherin a twisting machine. A decorative efiect is obtained by forming thepaper threads of paper bands of two or more colors thereby giving it astriped appearance. Fibers of cotton, silk, linen, fiax, jute, ramie,mineral fiber, and, nylon, rayon and other synthetic fibers, or the likehave been added in the twisting operation which when incorporated into arug give the rug a more luxurious appearance. The variations which canbe produced by this method are quite limited and therefore the patternswhich can be produced are restricted. Heretofore it has been attemptedto incorporate in fiber rugs various materials to give the rug ascintillating appearance. Some of these attempts have resulted in rugshaving a pleasing appearance but which can not withstand ordinary usage.Other attempts have resulted in rugs which, while possessing ascintillating appearance have either an unpleasant appearance or havelost their overall color characteristics.

A general object of the invention is to produce a fiber rug having ascintillating appearance.

A more specific object is to produce such a rug without detracting fromits overall color characteristics. A further object is to produce a rughaving a novel design in an economical and practical manner.

In accordance with the invention a rug is produced having ascintillating appearance but which retains its overall colorcharacteristics created by the color of the paper used in weaving thepaper threads. The rug is formed by having its filling formed of paperthreads wound spirally with transparent or translucent bands of plasticmaterial. The plastic material is of such a nature that it will not beaffected by the wear and use given the conventional rug. The transparentor translucent band enables the color of the rug to show through theband whereby the rug maintains its overall color characteristics whilestill having a scintillating appearance. The sparkle or scintillatingappearance of the rug is greatly increased by utilization of a band ofplastic material having a crinkled appearance thereby supplying manyadditional light reflecting surfaces without distracting from theoverall color characteristic.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be betterunderstood from the following detailed description when it is read inconjunction with the several figures of the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view of a fiber thread.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a second fiber thread.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the fiber thread of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal view partially broken away of the fiber threadof Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragment of a reversible fiber rug containing the fiberthread shown in Fig. 1.

The filling for a fiber rug made according to the invention is preparedby twisting together paper bands formed of kraft paper or the like andspirally wrapping about the periphery thereof a plastic material in theform of a transparent or translucent band. The filling thread includesat least two paper bands 10 and 11 uniformly twisted around themselvesto form a round thread of comparatively large cross-section as regardsthe thickness of the original band. About this thread is wound the thinplastic band 12. The plastic band can be wound about the paper thread ina separate operation or it can be wrapped around the paper thread by theconventional twisting machine during the forming of the thread. It isimportant, however, in wrapping the plastic band about the paper bandsthat the synthetic plastic band be only on the surface and notincorporated in the body of the thread. In thismanner maximumreflectivity of the synthetic plastic band can be obtained. The plasticband should cover less than half of the surface area of the thread andpreferably less than one-third of the area.

A similar paper thread can be prepared by twisting paper bands ofdifferent colors as indicated at 13, 14 thereby forming a thread havinga striped appearance. The threads can also be formed so that the colorchanges are staggered to produce bands of varying widths of color. Athin band of transparent or translucent material 12 is wrapped about thestriped thread. In this manner the plastic band assumes the colorcharacteristics of the striped paper thread because of its transparency.The color of the thread and therefore the color of the rug is notaltered by the addition of the transparent or translucent plastic band.

The paper threads, thus formed, can be of any suitable length andthickness, depending upon the purpose for which they are to be utilized.In forming a light weight rug, a thread of comparatively small diameterwould be used whereas in forming a heavier rug a larger thread will beused.

The thread having the plastic band wrapped about it is then incorporatedin a rug as the filling. The warp threads used in the fiber rug are madein a similar manner as the filling except they do not have the plasticmaterial wrapped about their periphery. It is essential to the inventionthat the filling thread is the only thread wrapped with the plasticband. A typical rug construction is illustrated in Fig. 5. Onecontinuous twisted thread forms the filling 15. A plurality of otherdifierently colored paper threads 16, 17, 18 form the warp and are wovenwith the filling in such a manner that one of the paper threads 16constitutes the inner layer of the rug for a substantial length andanother thread 17 constitutes the outer or upper layer of the rug forthe same length. The rug is provided with a nonaraveling selvage edge 19which is formed by looping back the filling thread 15 at the edge of therug, thus producing a nonraveling finished running edge.

The woven rug is cut into suitable lengths according to the size of rugdesired, and the ends are finished oil in any suitable manner to preventunraveling. One method of finishing is by folding a strip of bindingmaterial 20 of suitable width over the raw edges of the woven fabric.The binding material is then secured to the marginal edge of the rug byparallel lines of stitching 21 and 22 extending through the marginaledge of the rug from front to back and traversing the surface of thefabric from one selvage edge 19 to the other.

Rugs and floor coverings produced as described have a distinctivebrilliant and attractive appearance, possess exceptional wearingqualities and resist wear and tear under stress. The scintillatingappearance of the rug can be greatly increased by using a syntheticplastic band which has been crinkled. This can be readily accomplishedby passing the band through a machine which deforms the surface such asan embossing machine, thereby producing irregularities in the surfaceand creating a large number oflight reflecting areas.

1 The plastiornaterial selected is preferably apolyester such as apolymer, known as polyethylene terephthalate, formed by the condensationof ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. Such a material is sold underthe name fMylar by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., of Wilmington,Delaware. Other synethetic resinous materials can be used however suchas vinyl resins which include vinyl chloride, copolymers of vinylchloride. and vinyl acetate or other vinyl esters, polyethylene,polyurethanes and similar materials. A prime requisite in selectingaplastic material is its ability to withstand wear fora long period oftime when incorporated in a rug. The tensile strength of the materialshould exceed 15,000 pounds per square inch and it should have a hightear strength of over 15g-rams when tested on a conventional .cellophanetear tester. The plastic band is preferably. from to A2 inch inwidth andfrom 0.5 to 1.5 mils thick; The ability of polymers formed by thecondensation of ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid to withstand suchwear is outstanding.

Any departure from the above description which conformsto the presentinvention is intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is: V

1. As an article of manufacture, a reversible woven fiber rug having ascintillating appearance, comprising a warp and a filling both made ofpaper thread, and a thin 4 transparent plastic band crinkled so as toprovide many light reflecting surfaces, spirally wrapped around thefilling thread so as to cover less than half of its outer surface. 2. Asan article of manufacture, a woven fiber rug comprising a warp and afilling both formed from paper thread, and a thin, transparent plasticband crinkled so as to provide many light reflecting surfaces woundaround the filling thread so as to cover less than half of its outersurface to give a scintillating effect to the rug, the plastic bandhaving a tensile strength greater than 15,000 pounds per square inch anda tear strength of over grams and being from to /2 inch in width andfrom about 0.5

to 1.5 mils thick.

3. As an article of manufacture, a reversible fiber rug comprising awarp and a filling both formed from paper thread, and a thin,transparent band crinkled so as to provide many light reflectingsurfaces, wound around the filling thread so as to cover less than halfof its outer surface to give a scintillating effect to the rug, saidband being formed of polyethylene terephthalate resin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

